Pan Zhanle has delivered a new 100m freestyle world record of 46.40, the first swimming world record of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The People’s Republic of China’s Pan had it in his sights from his magnificent start, leading the field, and finished a whole second ahead of Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, who took silver with a time of 47.48, followed by Romania’s David Popovici in bronze-medal position with a time of 47.49. An incredible moment followed as the competitors looked up at the clock to see Pan’s time and began applauding.
Pan’s new mark lowered his previous record, which he had set at the 2024 World Championships in the 4x100m freestyle relay, by a full four-tenths of a second. His gold-medal victory also represents a first-ever medal for China in the 100m freestyle.
Pan, a 19-year-old first-time Olympian, had this to say a reporter at Reuters through a translator: “I tried my best to get the best result. I was very surprised in the end that I broke the world record and it was a magical moment.”
Swimming’s most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, reacted to Pan’s world-record time on U.S. broadcaster NBC, saying: “That is mind-blowing for me. I’ve never seen a win of that margin in that race in my career. And to go 46.4 – that’s unheard of!”
Considering Pan’s record in the context of where the men’s 100m freestyle could be headed, Phelps added: “To be that much closer to going 45 seconds in a 100 freestyle, I can’t understand that, I really can’t.”
This is the second medal in Paris for Chalmers, who also won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. The 26-year-old, three-time Olympian said: “I’m so proud of myself that I was able to deliver another great performance and be on the podium again.”
“Seeing a 46.4-second 100 freestyle swam next to me, the goalpost has definitely been shifted that I’m going to train harder than ever if I want to be competitive.”
This also marks a second medal for Popovici following his gold-medal victory in the men’s 200m freestyle. Popovici said: “It feels great having all the country watching and, having written history two days ago, to do it today again, I love it.
“It’s a privilege to be here to be able to do this. And I do it for the country. I do it for the people watching, for everyone supporting me but, at the end of the day, I do it for me, for the 10-year-old me who dreamed a lot about this. And I’ve made the kid in here extremely happy.”
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SWIMMING: MEN’S 100M FREESTYLE PODIUM
Gold: Pan Zhanle, People’s Republic of China
Silver: Kyle Chalmers, Australia
Bronze: David Popovici, Romania
Gold Medalist Pan Zhanle of Team People’s Republic of China (C), Silver Medalist Kyle Chalmers of Team Australia (L) and Bronze Medalist David Popovici of Team Romania (R) pose for a selfie on the podium during the Swimming medal ceremony after the Men’s 100m Freestyle Final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 31, 2024 in Nanterre, France.
Picture by Sarah Stier/2024 Getty Images
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